I have always been drawn to images but recently realized what an immense power they can have on my writing. After using images created by others, I decided to use my own photographs to trigger stories. I am not a photographer, but with the simple, accessible camera on my phone, I can capture images that […]
Welcome to Telling HerStories. This blog is written by women writers and teachers who want to share their passion for women’s stories. Our topics include the art, craft, and publication of women’s memoir, fiction, biography, poetry, drama, and more.
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Telling HerStories
How Visual Images Can Shape Us as Writers
In the writing class I teach called Finding the Writer Within, I urge writers to pay attention to the world around them. Paying attention is the most direct route to connecting to the writer within. Focusing on visual images is one way we can spark our creativity and direct our focus. Begin by choosing ten […]
Crawl Inside Your Character’s Head
Has someone told you your characters are one-dimensional? Or flat? Or predictable? Let’s take a flat character and make her three-dimensional. Based on an acting exercise, this will let you become your character, discover multiple objectives, find obstacles, and turn her into someone both likeable and flawed. Breathe in character—whatever that means, and exhale any […]
Three Writing Prompts to Make You a “Writer in Residence” This Summer
Remember the childhood chant, “School’s out, school’s out, Teacher let the monkeys out”? Maybe you joined the sing-song chorus as you dashed away from the classroom on a beautiful day in late spring, eager to put learning behind you and just revel in summer’s freedom. But maybe you were like me, a child who loved […]
Someday, I’ll Write
What do you want to be when you grow up?” Adults always asked this in sugar-coated tones. Like, at seven years old, how should I know? And why did they want to know? I had some ideas, four of them: elevator operator, tight rope walker, movie star, a famous writer. Alas, by the time I […]
Here’s the Story of Lovely Ladies
Last fall, I posted a SCN online course called “Writing About Your Mom without Guilt,” an offshoot from a workshop I conducted at the last SCN conference in Texas. Within days, I reached my maximum number of eight students. Len Leatherwood, online course coordinator, said, “Who knew there were so many women wanting to write […]
